How to Quote a Quote in MLA: The Complete Guide

Citing a Quote Within a Quote in MLA: Quick Start

The Direct Answer: What Is the ‘Quoted in’ Rule (qtd. in)?

When you are reading a secondary source—like a scholarly article or a book—and you want to use a direct quote that the secondary source author took from another work (the primary source), you must use the abbreviation (qtd. in) in your parenthetical citation. The core purpose of the “quoted in” rule is to provide an accurate roadmap for your reader. It clearly signals that while the original words belong to the primary author, you, the researcher, accessed those words through the work of the secondary author. Therefore, the in-text citation points readers to the secondary source, which is the only one that will appear on your Works Cited page.

Why Proper Citation Adds Authority and Trust to Your Work

Mastering the mechanics of citing an indirect source is an essential element of scholarly rigor. By correctly employing the “quoted in” format, you are demonstrating your adherence to the standards set by the Modern Language Association (MLA) and ensuring that your work is verifiable. This level of citation accuracy—showing the reader precisely what you accessed and from where—bolsters the credibility and reliability of your academic papers. Our goal in this guide is to eliminate the guesswork and common errors associated with these indirect sources, giving you the confidence that your citations are flawless.

Understanding the ‘qtd. in’ Rule for Indirect Sources

The concept of citing a quote within a quote—known in academic circles as citing an indirect source or secondary source—is one of the most common and often confusing citation challenges. It arises when you read an author (the secondary source) who is quoting the words of another writer (the original, or primary, source), and you need to incorporate those original words into your own paper.

When to Use ‘Quoted in’ (qtd. in) vs. Direct Citation

The abbreviation “qtd. in” (short for “quoted in”) serves a single, specific purpose: it is essential when you cannot access the original source material. While the best practice in scholarly research is always to track down and cite the primary source—as this is the most direct way to verify accuracy and context—there are times when the primary work is out of print, archived, or simply inaccessible to you.

In such cases, the “qtd. in” rule becomes the necessary signal that the material is being relayed through a secondary lens. By citing the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) official style guide, which explicitly details the use of “qtd. in” for indirect quotations (e.g., MLA Handbook, section 6.77), you demonstrate to your reader that you are adhering to established scholarly standards. This attention to detail immediately builds credibility and authority into your work. If you are paraphrasing the primary source’s idea rather than directly quoting, the “qtd. in” is not needed, and you would only cite the secondary source.

Step-by-Step Guide to the Parenthetical Citation

The key to correctly formatting an indirect source is ensuring your parenthetical citation clearly distinguishes between the original author and the secondary source you actually read. The citation’s purpose is to point the reader to the entry on your Works Cited page, which will only include the secondary source.

The mandatory in-text citation format for an indirect quotation is:

(Original Author’s Last Name qtd. in Secondary Author’s Last Name Page Number)

For instance, if you are quoting something written by Emerson but found the quote within a book by Smith on page 45, the correct citation would be:

Ralph Waldo Emerson argued that “a great man is always willing to be little” (Emerson qtd. in Smith 45).

This format clearly shows that the words belong to Emerson, but that you, the researcher, located those words as they were quoted in Smith’s work on page 45.

Formatting In-Text Citations for ‘Quote Within a Quote’ Scenarios

Citing an indirect source—a quote found within another work—is a common task in scholarly writing, and mastering the proper in-text format is crucial for maintaining academic authority and trust. In all cases, the in-text citation must lead the reader directly to the secondary source listed on your Works Cited page.

Example 1: The Original Author’s Name Appears in Your Sentence

When the prose of your paper introduces the name of the original (primary) author whose words you are quoting, the parenthetical citation is significantly simplified. You only need to provide the secondary source’s information. For example, if you are reading an article by Evans that quotes a primary source by Dupont, and you include Dupont’s name in your sentence, the in-text citation becomes:

Dupont asserts that “the true measure of a society is its commitment to its weakest members” (qtd. in Evans 45).

The abbreviation (qtd. in), meaning “quoted in,” serves as the signal to the reader that you did not consult Dupont’s original work but found the quotation in Evans’s work. This practice demonstrates adherence to scholarly standards by clearly documenting your research process.

Example 2: The Original Author’s Name Only Appears in the Parentheses

If you choose not to name the original author (Dupont, in the above example) in your sentence, you must include their last name within the parentheses to clarify whose words are being quoted. The in-text citation format is then:

The study concluded that “the true measure of a society is its commitment to its weakest members” (Dupont qtd. in Evans 45).

A key, actionable tip for all short, run-in quotations is to always place the closing punctuation (the period, question mark, or exclamation point) after the final parenthetical citation. The citation is considered part of the larger sentence structure and should be followed by the final punctuation mark.

Handling Quotes Where the Original Author is Unknown

In rare instances, the original source you wish to quote may not clearly identify the original author, or it may be an anonymous work. In such a scenario, the rule is to treat the original work’s title (or a shortened version of it) as the “author” in your citation, following the MLA guidelines for citing works without a listed author.

For instance, if you are quoting an idea from a work titled “Anonymous Study on Citations” found in the secondary source by Evans:

The research suggests that “citation practice has demonstrably improved academic honesty across all disciplines” (“Anonymous Study” qtd. in Evans 12).

Always remember that for minor changes to the original quotation—such as adjusting a pronoun or verb tense to fit your sentence’s grammar—you must use brackets to make the alteration clear. The MLA Handbook specifies this in Section 1.3.1, advising that brackets [like this] are used to subtly modify a quote for grammar or clarity without changing the original meaning, a principle essential for maintaining textual integrity and reader confidence.

The Works Cited Entry: Citing the Secondary Source Only

The Role of the Secondary Source on Your Works Cited Page

When utilizing a quote that you found in a secondary source—the book, article, or website you actually read—but that originated with a primary source, a critical distinction must be made on your Works Cited page. Crucially, your Works Cited page should only include the entry for the secondary source. This is the one you physically consulted and the source your reader can independently verify to track down your information. Since your parenthetical citation uses the “qtd. in” abbreviation, it clearly directs the reader to the secondary source’s entry on the Works Cited page, confirming that you are following established scholarly documentation standards laid out in the official MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Listing the original source that you did not personally read would be misleading to your reader and violate the principle of citing only what you have directly accessed.

Creating the Full Citation for Books, Articles, and Websites

The citation format for your secondary source follows the standard structure of the Modern Language Association’s core elements. Whether the secondary source is a print book, a journal article from a database, or a page on a website, you will assemble the entry using the same flexible template. The core elements are the essential facts—Author, Title, Container, etc.—that describe the source you have in hand. Applying this systematic approach ensures that every citation provides the consistent, necessary information for your readers to locate the source, establishing the verifiable authority of your paper.

To help ensure your Works Cited entry is complete and correct every time, use the following quick checklist. This cross-referencing tool is based on the MLA’s 9 Core Elements and should be applied for every secondary source you cite, regardless of its type:

1. Author: (The person or organization primarily responsible for the work.)
2. Title of Source: (The article, chapter, or webpage title in quotation marks, or a book title in italics.)
3. Title of Container: (The journal, website, or book title that contains the source, in italics.)
4. Other Contributors: (e.g., editors, translators, or illustrators.)
5. Version: (e.g., edition, such as “9th ed.”)
6. Number: (e.g., volume and issue number, abbreviated as “vol.” and “no.”)
7. Publisher: (The company or organization that issued the source.)
8. Publication Date: (The most relevant date for the source you consulted.)
9. Location: (Page numbers, a URL, or a DOI.)

When creating your citation, simply move through this list and include all the elements that are available for your source, separating each element with the prescribed punctuation as you go. Omit any elements that are not present.

Advanced Scenarios: Incorporating Long Quotations and Dialogue

When the material you are citing is lengthy or involves conversation, the standard in-text citation rules shift significantly. Navigating these specialized formats is essential for maintaining the high standards of scholarly presentation and reader confidence, ensuring your paper’s authority is never questioned due to a simple formatting error.

Formatting the Block Quote (Four Lines or More)

A long quotation, or block quote, is necessary when the quoted prose exceeds four lines in your final paper. This format signals a shift in presentation to the reader, and MLA requires a distinct set of rules. For a block quote, you must omit all external quotation marks—the block indentation itself acts as the signal that the passage is directly quoted. The entire block should be indented 0.5 inches (or five spaces) from the left margin, double-spaced, and introduced by a colon if the preceding text is a full independent clause.

Crucially, the parenthetical citation for an indirect source within a block quote follows the final punctuation mark of the quoted passage. It is the only time the citation appears outside the closing punctuation.

For example, when presenting a lengthy observation from an original author, say Smith, that you found in the secondary work by Johnson, the proper formatting would look like this in your paper, demonstrating your professional approach to source material:

Our analysis of early American political thought reveals a deep-seated anxiety about the nature of civil liberty:

The central challenge for the new republic was to reconcile the fierce independence of the individual with the necessity of a cohesive social contract. This tension, often expressed through metaphor and allegory, dominated the pamphlets and public addresses of the era. It was a contradiction inherent to the very promise of self-governance, a kind of necessary philosophical friction. The failure to grasp this point is the failure to grasp the epoch. (Smith qtd. in Johnson 145)

This clear, real-world example of block-quoting an indirect source from a scholarly work serves as a practical demonstration of how to correctly manage these longer citations without losing academic rigor.

Quoting Dialogue: Using Single and Double Quotation Marks

A common point of confusion arises when the passage you are quoting from a source already contains dialogue or quoted material. If you are integrating a short, run-in quote that contains internal dialogue, the rule is to use double quotation marks for the entire quote you are taking, and then use single quotation marks for any words that were dialogue in the original source. This pattern is necessary to help the reader disambiguate which level of quotation belongs to the original source and which is the dialogue it contains.

For instance, if your secondary source, a critic named Williams, quotes a poet, Davies, who speaks dialogue, you would write:

Williams notes, “Davies often described his creative process as listening to a silent partner, stating, ‘The most difficult part is hearing the internal echo, not the external sound,’ before he ever put pen to paper” (qtd. in Williams 72).

In this case, the double quotes enclose Davies’s entire statement (as quoted by Williams), and the single quotes clarify the exact words Davies spoke, demonstrating a mastery of complex quotation practices. If the dialogue itself were lengthy (as in multiple lines of back-and-forth conversation), you may need to apply the block quote rules, which would mean that the block itself requires no external quotes, and any internal dialogue would simply use double quotation marks, as the block quote’s format removes one layer of nesting.

Your Top Questions About Indirect Quotations Answered

Q1. Is it ever acceptable to omit the ‘qtd. in’ phrase?

The “quoted in” abbreviation is specifically required when you are using the exact words—a direct quotation—from a primary source that you found within a secondary source. However, it is entirely acceptable and appropriate to omit the “qtd. in” if you are simply paraphrasing the original author’s idea instead of quoting their exact words. In that case, you treat the primary author’s concept as a piece of information you found in the secondary source, and the in-text citation only points to the secondary author (e.g., Smith 45). Focusing on paraphrasing over direct quotation when the primary source is unavailable is a great way to maintain academic integrity and clarity for your readers.

Q2. What should I do if I can find the primary source online?

A core principle of scholarly work is to always consult the original source whenever possible. If your initial research turns up an indirect quote, and you later find the original source—whether a print copy or an online version—you must immediately access and cite it directly. This step demonstrates the highest academic rigor and is a mark of advanced research skill. By going to the primary document, you eliminate a layer of potential error and gain full context for the material. Your citation then becomes a standard (Original Author Page Number) and you omit the secondary source entirely from your in-text citation and Works Cited list.

Q3. How do I cite a quote within a quote from a film or interview?

Citing indirect sources from non-traditional formats like films or interviews follows the same “qtd. in” logic, but the location marker changes from a page number to a relevant time-based locator. If you quote dialogue from a film that you read in an interview transcript (your secondary source), your in-text citation would use the primary author’s name (the speaker/character/film name) followed by the abbreviation and then the location in your secondary source. For the film itself, the time-based locator you’d be looking for is a time range in the format of hours, minutes, and seconds, such as 01:23:45–50. This is the precise equivalent of a page number for audiovisual material, ensuring readers can verify the quote in the secondary work you actually consulted.

Final Takeaways: Mastering Scholarly Credibility

The ultimate goal in academic writing is to build authority and trust with your reader. Proper citation, especially for complex cases like quoting a source that is itself quoting another, is the cornerstone of this goal. The single most important takeaway from this guide is to remember that the abbreviation (qtd. in) is your clear signal to the reader that you have used a secondary source to present a primary quote. Using this method correctly is essential for maintaining the highest standards of academic honesty.

Summarize the 3 Key Actionable Steps for Indirect Citation

To ensure flawless citation of a quote within a quote using MLA style, follow this simple three-step checklist every time you use a primary source via a secondary one:

Use Double Quotation Marks for the entire quotation you are pulling from the secondary source.
Use ‘(qtd. in)’ in the Parentheses to correctly attribute the original author and point the reader to the source you actually read.
Only Cite the Secondary Source on your Works Cited page; the original author’s work does not get an entry.

What to Do Next to Ensure a Perfect Works Cited Page

Eliminating manual formatting errors is the fastest way to polish your paper and ensure that your citations meet rigorous scholarly standards. We strongly recommend that you download an up-to-date, verified MLA template or utilize a reputable citation management tool. This simple, final step will prevent common manual formatting mistakes, guaranteeing that your bibliography is as accurate as your in-text citations.